Performances of Functional and Anatomic Imaging Modalities in Related Metastatic Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma.

The study identifies the importance of positron emission tomographic (PET) and anatomic imaging modalities and their individual performances in detecting succinate dehydrogenase A (-related metastatic pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL). The detection rates of PET modalities-Ga-DOTATATE, F-FDG, and F-FDOPA-along with the combination of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are compared in a cohort of 11 patients with metastatic PPGL in the setting of a germline mutation. The imaging detection performances were evaluated at three levels: overall lesions, anatomic regions, and a patient-by-patient basis. Ga-DOTATATE PET demonstrated a lesion-based detection rate of 88.6% [95% confidence interval (CI), 84.3-92.5%], while F-FDG, F-FDOPA, and CT/MRI showed detection rates of 82.9% (CI, 78.0-87.1%), 39.8% (CI, 30.2-50.2%), and 58.2% (CI, 52.0-64.1%), respectively. The study found that Ga-DOTATATE best detects lesions in a subset of patients with related metastatic PPGL. However, F-FDG did detect more lesions in the liver, mediastinum, and abdomen/pelvis anatomic regions, showing the importance of a combined approach using both PET modalities in evaluating -related PPGL.